Body mass index (weight/height2) or percentage body fat by bioelectrical impedance analysis: which variable better reflects serum lipid profile? (original) (raw)

International Journal of Obesity volume 23, pages 771–774 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

We present population data on percentage body fat (%BF) by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in 12 287 men and 6657 women aged 30–69 y. In addition, we examined relationships among BMI, %BF and serum lipids (total-cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDLC), TC/HDLC ratio, LDL-cholesterol (LDLC) and triglycerides (TG)) in order to determine whether body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) or %BF by BIA better reflected lipid metabolism. Women had larger %BF than men in all age groups. On the other hand, women aged <60 y had smaller BMI than corresponding men. Regardless of age, BMI was obviously correlated with %BF (r = 0.743–0.924). As previously reported, high BMI and high %BF were strongly associated with high serum TC/HDLC ratio and TG, and low serum HDLC rather than high serum TC and LDLC. Compared with BMI, %BF by BIA was better correlated with the serum indices except for serum HDLC. These results were found in both sexes, and there was a trend in which younger subjects had stronger correlations among BMI, %BF and serum lipids. Consequently, %BF by BIA (an index of body composition) better reflects serum lipid profile than BMI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Nagoya City University Medical School, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, 467-8601, Nagoya, Japan
    Teruo Nagaya
  2. Department of Epidemiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-machi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan
    Hideyo Yoshida
  3. Gifu Prefectural Center for Health Check and Health Promotion, 4-6-2 Noisshiki, Gifu, 500-8226, Japan
    Hidekatsu Takahashi, Yoshihiro Matsuda & Makoto Kawai

Authors

  1. Teruo Nagaya
  2. Hideyo Yoshida
  3. Hidekatsu Takahashi
  4. Yoshihiro Matsuda
  5. Makoto Kawai

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Nagaya, T., Yoshida, H., Takahashi, H. et al. Body mass index (weight/height2) or percentage body fat by bioelectrical impedance analysis: which variable better reflects serum lipid profile?.Int J Obes 23, 771–774 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800961

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